Past U president ranks among best paid

The past president of the University of Minnesota was among the best-paid university presidents in the United States.

Robert Bruininks' total compensation of $747,955 in fiscal year 2011 earned him 8th place on a new list of public university leaders compiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education.

That compensation includes a base salary of $447,955, which alone ranks 45th among 199 presidents. But what brings him to the higher spot is $300,000 in deferred compensation.

Bruininks served as president for nearly a decade, and his compensation package was structured to reward him for length of service.

The highest-paid public president in 2011 was E. Gordon Gee, president of Ohio State University. He made nearly $2 million in total compensation. Gee has been featured in a recent New York Times series on college students' rising debt.

All this talk about presidential salaries reminds me of a conversation (confrontation?) Bruininks had a while back with a few legislators who questioned new U President Eric Kaler's salary.

Bruininks said then that while public universities should not pay outrageous salaries, "we also need to be competitive if we're going to get really good people -- and then trust those people with running, in my judgment, the most complex organization in this entire state."

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